mid-1980's-era CS "random" set of the day only a few hours after coveted Star Wars set with post EP-6 Luke revealed.

Coincidence? I think NOT!

(Basically, I think Huwbot is trying to placate the non-SW space fans by distracting us with a shiny, 1985 LEGO Classic Space set.)

So relieved it wasn't a Clickits set.
;-)

"Gamma Laser"...isn't that what was used on Bill Bixby's "Hulk"...?

This feels like a trap. Like @Huwbot threw this out to prove impartiality before four days straight of Clikits.

O i love this one, the biggest spaceship i had as a kid. And the first black spaceman!! Used to pretend it was Darth Vader

Now we're talkin'! Great choice, Huwbot! I had such a hard time choosing between this and 6931 FX Star Patroller at Toys R Us. I chose the FX--and picked this up on ebay once ebay had been invented!

@iwybs said:
"Some modern updates on Flickr:
https://flic.kr/p/2kXz8My (yours truly)
https://flic.kr/p/2m1nFBy (Sander Koenen)
https://flic.kr/p/2aBnB9o (GBailey NA)
https://flic.kr/p/qmDgM3 (Iamkritch)
https://flic.kr/p/2j6dHEY (Miscellanabuilds)
https://flic.kr/p/6U953v (Nick - unfinished)"

Hey I have one, too! I mean it was a long time ago now, so could stretch the meaning of “modern.”

Got this for a Christmas or Birthday present, I cannot recall. In any case, awesome Ship, Black suit Space guy, Blue robot (utilizing the new Brick, Modified 1 x 2 x 2/3 with Studs on Sides that was released that year) Tabless black hoses (also new for that year), and trans yellow Antenna!!!

@MeisterDad said:
" @Mr__Thrawn said:
"It’s so awesome how all the Classic Space ships have big arrows pointing forwards, in case you thought the propulsive rockets were the front."

In the space sets I own most of the arrow tiles indicate the direction of some kind of play feature, such as the way a detached module re-attaches to the main chassis or how something is to slide along a construct. They are not merely for show!"

I was trying to figure out what the arrows denoted in this case; is it to show the back half is a modular section designed to snap onto the forward sections?

Considering the size of the back half of the craft, it's a shame the cargo compartment is very small. Two of the alternative builds are just variations of the front craft, and show that the main model is the maximum length achievable with a 144 piece limit!

This gives me a warm feeling, just look at all those lovely mid 1980s Space parts! That green canopy on its own evokes a lot of fond memories.

Never owned it ( I was more of a Town kid ) but spent a lot of hours looking at this and others in the catalogues of the day.

@Lego_lord said:
"I've always thought this and the 6931 FX were brothers. I liked FX better because of the twin engine and the weapons configuraiton. "

And the vehicle bay. I love both, but the FX definitely has the edge.

I just love those tiny little bots. :)

One of the last sets I got as a kid.

@iwybs said:
"Some modern updates on Flickr:
https://flic.kr/p/2kXz8My (yours truly)
https://flic.kr/p/2m1nFBy (Sander Koenen)
https://flic.kr/p/2aBnB9o (GBailey NA)
https://flic.kr/p/qmDgM3 (Iamkritch)
https://flic.kr/p/2j6dHEY (Miscellanabuilds)
https://flic.kr/p/6U953v (Nick - unfinished)"

I'm normally not a fan of 'Neo Classic Space' but some of those look pretty nice!

@Mr__Thrawn said:
"It’s so awesome how all the Classic Space ships have big arrows pointing forwards, in case you thought the propulsive rockets were the front."

it makes them go faster, duh!

wow these are all great! i love what people can do with today's parts and techniques and the old designs!

I like the little robots in these sets.

One of my favorite sets in my Classic Space fleet during my childhood. Still have it. Thank God my parents never felt the need to get rid of my stuff once I had left home.
I think it's one of only two sets where I also still have the original box.

A gamma-ray laser would be a potential Nobel-winning invention, with applications in imaging but also frying stuff we don't like from orbit. Here, our brave space cadets seem to have built a spaceship around one. Is it a weapon, a research tool, sometimes one and other times the other? You decide.

^ Shortly after the spy Commander Black stole the Gamma V Laser Craft, they began using its small compartments for scientific instrumentation payloads as small cargo lockers for smuggling highly illegal Romulan ale ... or stolen electronics and defense secrets. Hence the other name of the vessel, Intergalactic Freighter Dark Star.

I still remember the day I had this set (gift from my mother). One of my all time favorite sets !
I've made an all-blue version and also a tons of remake...
It's really big for 144 parts - and so swooshable ^^

Always loved this one as a kid, unfortunately never got one. I never realized it only has 144 pieces, it's pretty sizable for that number. And it doesn't look cheap or unfinished either. Great design...as were most classic Space sets obviously...

@ahughwilliams:
Years ago I was looking up something about racing stripes in cars, and ran across an “explanation” that said people falsely believed they made the car go faster (hence the term “go faster stripes”), when in reality they’re meant to help the driver reorient to the race course in case of a spinout. I just sat there, thinking to myself, “But they’re seat-belted into the car. The stripes always point in the same direction relative to the driver’s perspective (if not, something is _seriously_ wrong, and they probably don’t need to worry about completing the race). Pointing the front end of their car (stripes or not) in the direction of the course is what reorients them with the course” I still can’t put that incident out of my mind.

@footballfever70 said:
" @ElephantKnight said:
"This would look badass in Blacktron"

Everything looks better wearing Blacktron colors"

Truer words have never been spoken.

And that cockpit comes in both trans yellow and trans neon green, so one can choose their Blacktron.

@Feroz I am half certain that little comic (And others like it) are what inspired Kdog in his comics.

Interesting to see how this uses a Space Police 2 color scheme before it was it's own theme, and how the black suit spacemen eventually changed, when Blacktron 1 appeared the black suit spacemen disappeared.

@PurpleDave said:
" @ahughwilliams :
Years ago I was looking up something about racing stripes in cars, and ran across an “explanation” that said people falsely believed they made the car go faster (hence the term “go faster stripes”), when in reality they’re meant to help the driver reorient to the race course in case of a spinout. I just sat there, thinking to myself, “But they’re seat-belted into the car. The stripes always point in the same direction relative to the driver’s perspective (if not, something is _seriously_ wrong, and they probably don’t need to worry about completing the race). Pointing the front end of their car (stripes or not) in the direction of the course is what reorients them with the course” I still can’t put that incident out of my mind."

If that "explanation" was correct, wouldn't you want a stripe directly in front of the driver, rather than a stripe each side of the centerline of the car? Also, if you're so dizzy you're not sure which direction to go, maybe you'd better sit there a few more seconds, race or no race.

@CopperTablet said:
"A gamma-ray laser would be a potential Nobel-winning invention, with applications in imaging but also frying stuff we don't like from orbit. Here, our brave space cadets seem to have built a spaceship around one. Is it a weapon, a research tool, sometimes one and other times the other? You decide."

I always thought the name was C5 Laser Craft: Gamma being the third letter of the Greek alphabet, and V the Roman numeral for 5. "Gamma V" just sounds cooler than "C5".

@ElephantKnight said:
" @footballfever70 said:
" @ElephantKnight said:
"This would look badass in Blacktron"

Everything looks better wearing Blacktron colors"

Truer words have never been spoken.

And that cockpit comes in both trans yellow and trans neon green, so one can choose their Blacktron.

@Feroz I am half certain that little comic (And others like it) are what inspired Kdog in his comics."

Actually, Kdog once explained that he had no idea that original comic existed until well into his comic's run...

This was always a cool set for me, but I can only think of Commander Schwartz and Meteor Madness ice cream when I look at it now!

" @Feroz I am half certain that little comic (And others like it) are what inspired Kdog in his comics."

I've done some digging back through the comic and I finally found it. In the description of this comic Kdog talks about the comic and the Commander Black character as a total surprise to him. It's in Time Bomb Part 55. As that comic contains major spoilers for the overall story, I'll just copy-paste the section here:

"Ever since this comic launched, I've been touting that it was “a story for LEGO Space since LEGO never gave it one.” I never thought that was a bad thing, as The LEGO Group left the narrative open, only providing the broadest strokes that allowed kids like me to fill in the details with our imaginations.

Well, it turns out I'm a big, fat liar. And in the worst way, because I've learned that LEGOLAND DID create a series of Space and Futuron advertisements in 1985 and 1986 that starred none other than a black-suited Classic Space astronaut named Commander BLACK, Jens Black, who flew around space in the Gamma-V Lasercraft!

According to Brickipedia, Commander Black embarked on such adventures as responding to an SOS from the Alpha 1 space station, helping them fix a stabilizer that prevented the base's destruction. In another mission, Commander Black noticed that Roger Robot had created a cooling system error on the Cosmic Fleet Voyager by going into its computer, and the stalwart commander threatened to “scrap” Roger if it happened again!! Roger did indeed screw up again, sending the Cosmic Fleet Voyager spiraling toward a mysterious planet. Commander Black relented on the severity of his punishment, however, ordering the robot to clean the new station they built on the planet. Commander Black and his fellow astronauts found little of interest on this new world until Roger redeemed himself by discovering it was hollow and inhabited. Commander Black and Roger Robot went on further adventures, entering a “time tunnel” that deposited them at the Futuron Monorail Transport System. There, they encountered an astronaut named Major White and took a ride on the Stardefender 200, which Roger accidentally split into its three components by pressing the wrong button. Oh, Roger…

Granted, Commander Black had combed brown hair while Commander Schwartz has spiked black hair. “Schwarz” means “black” in German, so LEGO and I were clearly operating on the same level of cleverness in our astronaut naming. And Commander Black is quite stern and accomplished, which Commander Schwartz most certainly is not. But Jesus, have I been creating Commander Black fan fiction all these years????

According to Brickipedia, Commander Black, aka Spaceman Jens, was likely named after the late Jens Nygaard Knudsen, creator of the Classic Space theme and minifigures. The black spaceman figure (the rarest in the series) was supposed to represent spies, per Knudsen.

Spaceman Jens has been brought back in some recent LEGO video games. How should I feel about this? It's not like I think that LEGO is ever going to see and proclaim this comic and Commander Schwartz canon! Yet he's real to me, and after writing this comic for so long, complicated feelings of jealousy arise whenever LEGO does revisit its Classic Space theme, such as in The LEGO Movies. I certainly don't own LEGO Space; I've just been playing in its world for a long time. But seriously, LEGO picks the very same ship and astronaut to star in the little bit of official Space fiction it does produce?! I guess we both know cool when we see it!"

@560heliport:
Well, as I said, as the driver, you’re _in_ the car. Look forward. If it looks like the race course, you’re good to go (unless you’re backwards). If there are bleachers sitting in front of you, maybe don’t floor it just yet.